Middlesbrough Transporter was built in 1911 under a 1907 Act of Parliament, the Transporter Bridge, which spans the River Tees, reflects the dynamic industrial heritage of our area and is the local landmark of Middlesbrough.
It is capable of carrying 600 people at a time. You drive or walk into a cradle that is suspended beneath the main span of the bridge and which carries its load of cars and pedestrians across the Tees some 160ft above the river in just two and a half minutes.
The Birth of Middlesbrough
Middlesbrough was still only a small farm of twenty five people as late as 1801.
In 1829 a group of Quaker businessmen headed by Joseph Pease of Darlington purchased this Middlesbrough farmstead and its estate and set about the development of what they termed `Port Darlington' on the banks of the Tees nearby. A town was planned on the site of the farm to supply labour to the new coal port - Middlesbrough was born.
In 1850 Iron ore was discovered in the Cleveland Hills near Eston to the south of Middlesbrough and Iron gradually replaced coal as the lifeblood of the town. By 1851 Middlesbrough's population had grown from 40 people in 1829 to 7,600 and it was rapidly replacing Stockton as the major port on the Tees
The Growth of Middlesbrough
The expanding iron and steel industry of Middlesbrough in the 1860s and 1870s spurred on the growth of Middlesbrough with a population of 19,000 in 1861 increasing to 40,000 only ten years later. The residents of this early town came mainly from neighbouring Yorkshire and the North East, but later from Cheshire, Ireland, Scotland, Wales and some European countries.
At the turn of the century Middlesbrough's population had more than doubled to 90,000 and it must have been hard to believe that only seventy years earlier the town did not exist.
Today Middlesbrough has a population of 150,000 and covers a geographical area of 5390 hectares. It is undoubtedly the heart of the Teesside conurbation and the modern `Capital' of the area. In English history nothing compares to Middlesbrough's rapid growth. It is no wonder that Middlesbrough has been described as the `oldest new town' in England.
Middlesbrough Today and 'Over the Border'
'Over the border', to the north of the railway, some features of the earlier town can still be seen. Middlesbrough's oldest pub, the Ship Inn, in Stockton Street is still there as is the old Town Hall, which has seen better days. More impressive are the Georgian style houses, (now offices) in Queens Terrace. Historically this part of Middlesbrough was known as an area frequented by sex workers. Young people were also found to be sexually exploited in this area. Records as early as 1859 report of prostitution and the exploitation of young people under 18 years of age, though at that time these young people were seen as criminals and not victims of abuse.
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